lionsden

I'm not just talking the City game because I recognize the fatigue issue but this is not a rare occurrence either. We do this in literally every big game under Jose.

ha I see. TBF His performance at the world cup was shocking enough to arouse suspicion.

There are so many things that could be done in regards to game management that we fail to do or never do properly such as retaining posession even if it's for posession sake instead of hoofing it upfield, if your opponent don't have the ball, they can't hurt you, that was Pep's barca biggest weapon during their dominant years. If you do choose the more convenient option of hoofing it, it should be done with more tact and precision by having one or two strong player upfield to hold the ball up and either lay it off to a team mate to maintain posession or draw the foul to waste time or pacy players to stretch their defence and give them something to worry about. There's another method of pressing high up the pitch, when you do this, not only does it make life difficult for the opponent,disrupts their flow and make them more likely to surrender posession, it also means they have to work harder to get the ball into dangerous areas to create chances. We rarely do any of these things in big games. Just sitting back against teams that attacks relentlessly and with defenders like Ivanovic and Cahill who have been as unreliable and mistake prone this season is just a bad idea.

Proof?

With regards to losing leads. There's a solution to that. Don't rely on one goal to win a match. Push for more when you can. The heart attack inducing pressure of watching your team defend a 1 nil lead in the closing stages alone makes me hate the idea of sitting on one fragile goal. Especially with the way we just sit back and invite pressure, there's always an element of luck involved in keeping a one goal lead. So we can either learn how to kill off the opposition with goals or their momentum by controlling the game I.e better in game management. Relying on th defence won't cut it.

I agree he's basically a better and more technicalnversion of ramires. I wouldn't say no to alex song either.

This is basically a done deal. On a side note. If there's another signing left before deadline then it has to be a proper, top quality attacking midfielder to challenge oscar or a pacy and technical central midfielder to complement our cm lack of pace. I will be pissed if its another winger/striker to replace the two that are likely to leave I.e schurrle and salah. We have a bunch of wingers on loan we could use to fill the salah space I.e moses,atsu et al

Seriously why did we pass up on Bony while he was at Vitesse and Eredivisie top goal scorer?. 11m was the fee being touted about before swansea got him for 1m more. Considering our partnership with Vitesse, It was a no brainer. Instead we opted for the shortsighted/short term fix of Eto'o.

Wrong on Carvajal and Rakitic as they are one of the best performers at their respective clubs this season while Navas has flattered to decieve, City have other options like Nasri and Milner.

I don't think it's an exaggeration to say He wouldn't make the bench of the big European teams. I don't see which AM he's good enough to bench at Madrid,Bayern,Barca and even City. Normally the first choice attacking midfielder of a top club is one of the few players that the opposition managers worry the most about and devise a tactical plan to stop. These are the player that pull the string and destabilise the opposition defence and disrupt their tactical plan. That's the level we need to aspire to.

He's our yaya in terms of importance to the team. Looking back, our midfield and overall quality of the team has come a long way since the mediocre years post 09/10

Here's the thing. The issue isn't so much that we parked the bus but that we had absolutely no tactical plan other than to keep inviting unneccessary pressure. Would it be that risky to counter them with 3 players with well calculated and rehearsed play? Not to mention the benefit of holding the ball and retaining posession in midfield instead of hoofing it aimlessly off field just to invite another wave of constant attack.

Why are you doing this?

"Cahill disliked this thread 5 minutes ago"

That's piss taking tbh. What;s the point of bringing him on for 1 minute?

Jose 2015: "We don't do draws. I will rather lose chasing a win than settle for a draw"

This is yet another proof that experience is so so overrated in football.

Our Varane. That's all.

Jose should be ashamed of himself for that tactic in the 2nd half.

What was the point of that sub?

This is fucking shameful

It would make my weekend if Drogba scores the winner

We are parking the ball big time now. Disgraceful.

Whatever you do, do not allow the cunt that's getting ready to come on to score.

Here here